Young Edge: With a mat and a book, how Pune keeps its date with reading on Saturdays
Pune Reads, an open silent-reading community, has sparked a reading movement in the city, drawing book lovers to the Kamala Nehru Park in Kothrud every week.
Chauhan and Dharmadhikari, a 35-year-old writer who has worked in advertising and AI, both separately reached out to the curators of Cubbon Reads and set up the Pune version. (File)
Visit the Kamala Nehru Park in Pune’s Kothrud on a Saturday morning, and you will come across a pleasant scene: young people sitting on the grass, on the benches, or under the trees, engrossed in reading books. They are part of an open silent-reading community, called Pune Reads, that has gathered at the park every Saturday, from 8 am to 11 am, for the past two years. Their motto: ‘No registration. Just bring a mat and a book.’
Aditi Chauhan, Sonal Dharmadhikari, and Aditi Kapadi started the community in May 2023 after being inspired by Cubbon Reads, a similar popular initiative in Bangalore. “I had been to Bangalore and to Cubbon Reads where I saw people getting together, not really talking, but just sitting silently and reading. I realised that that is such a simple yet very rare thing to do,” says Chauhan, a 25-year-old software engineer.
Chauhan and Dharmadhikari, a 35-year-old writer who has worked in advertising and AI, both separately reached out to the curators of Cubbon Reads and set up the Pune version. Since then, the Pune Reads Instagram page has amassed over 5,000 followers and a bunch of regular readers who show up every weekend.
“There is no registration or fee, nothing like that,” says Dharmadhikari. “The core idea is to encourage people to get in the habit of reading again. There are some who have always been readers, but they could not find the time, or they had fallen out of the habit. And some others wanted to get into the habit, but then they did not know where to start,” she adds.
“We just don’t have the kind of motivation or support that you get when you see people around you reading. Most of us got it through school or college, where we saw people reading. Some people have not had that luxury, or just have not had that connection. What we wanted to create was not a physical space but a social space where you know that the other person is reading on their own, so you can do it as well,” she further explains.
Ninad Tengse, 25, moved to Pune for his software job in 2023 and was looking for communities to meet people. He became a regular at Pune Reads and was eventually asked to be a curator. On how the community helps a reader, he says, “You are making conscious efforts to set aside a time of your day for this activity that is reading. And in this day and age, it becomes important that we do that. Because at home, that is simply not possible unless you have extreme discipline. There are a lot of other responsibilities at home that do not simply allow you the continuous time that you need for an activity like reading. Because reading is not a 30-second job. So, this allows the reader to just set aside some time and have undisturbed time for reading.”
Most of the readers joining the community are in the 19 to 30 age group, but the curators aim to expand the demographic.
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“We are an offline reading community, but the face of it is on Instagram. The regular updates go on Instagram, and the younger generation gets to know about it. But it should be ‘reading for everyone’. The younger generation and the older generation, all of whom want to take up reading as a habit. We encourage people to bring along their families,” Dharmadhikari adds.
Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting.
Professional Background
Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune.
Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics.
Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories:
1. Investigations & Governance
"Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents.
"44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families.
2. Education & Campus Life
Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
"Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial.
"Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers.
3. Human Rights & Social Issues
"Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India.
"'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying.
Signature Style
Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty.
X (Twitter): @SohamShah07 ... Read More
